Your Views: Medical lab teams do much to ensure your good health

Medical laboratory teams are the cornerstones of accurate diagnoses for patients. In fact, test results are approximately 70 percent of a patient's medical record, providing vital information for doctors and health care providers. Whether it's a routine health screen, cancer diagnosis or blood donation—Medical laboratory professionals care for patients in small communities and metropolitan areas, including here in Janesville.

April 20-26 is National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. This week is dedicated to celebrate the life-saving contributions of more than 300,000 medical professionals.

Laboratory test results drive a significant portion of clinical decisions, from diagnosis to therapy, with the ultimate goal of providing excellent patient care, thereby leading to improved patient health.

Using state-of-the-art technology and instrumentation, laboratory professionals perform and supervise tests that lead to the detection of potential health problems with the philosophy that the sooner a disease is caught, the better the outcome. Laboratory professionals are an integral part of the health care team that guides and assesses a patient's ongoing treatment and care.

One way that you can help celebrate this week is to renew your commitment to good health and schedule a health screening test or a blood donation. As a laboratory manager overseeing laboratory medicine here in Janesville, I appreciate the dedicated laboratorians I work with and I know that the tests and procedures they perform save lives.